Orthopelma superbum, Kasparyan, 1984

Fang, Zhiqiang, Hu, Wenqian, Mccormack, Koorosh, Pos, Davide Dal, Tang, Chang-Ti, Zhu, Ying, Mao, Kangshan, Stone, Graham N. & Zhang, Y. Miles, 2025, New species of rose gall wasp Diplolepis Geoffroy, 1762 (Hymenoptera: Diplolepididae) and its parasitoid Orthopelma Taschenberg, 1865 (Hymenoptera Ichneumonidae) on a rare endemic rose species in Sichuan, China, Zootaxa 5706 (2), pp. 231-246 : 242

Key to the species of female Orthopelma superbum -group (modified from Kasparyan 2011 and Karimi et al. 2024)

1. Malar space very short. Inner orbits very strongly convergent to clypeus, maximal distance between eyes on frons about 2.5× as great as minimal distance between eyes on lower part of face. Flagellum very short, 10–11-segmented; its segments 1–7 or 1–8 combined as long as maximum diameter of eye; apical flagellomere as long as 2–3 preceding segments together. Ovipositor sheath about 0.5–0.6× as long as hind tibia................................................. 2 [ superbum -group]

- Malar space distinct. Inner orbits rather weakly convergent to clypeus, maximal distance between eyes on frons 1.15–1.5× as great as minimal distance between eyes on lower part of face. Flagellum longer, 13–19-segmented; only three or fore its basal segments combined as long as maximum diameter of eye; apical flagellomere shorter, or sometimes as long as two preceding segments together. Ovipositor sheath usually 0.8–1.5× as long as hind tibia........... [ mediator -group]— not treated here

2. Pronotum, mesonotum and upper part of mesopleuron red. Hind tibia white dorsally and darkened ventrally. Uzbekistan.................................................................................... O. superbum Kasparyan

- Mesosoma completely black ( Figs. 7F , 8A ), with only tegulae yellow (one species). Hind tibia yellowish-brown to brown.. 3

3. First metasomal tergite brown, concolorous with the rest of metasoma ( Fig. 8D ). Flagellum with 10–11 flagellomeres ( Fig. 7D ). Base of mandibles and entire clypeus yellowish-brown, face dark brown ( Fig. 7A ); Antenna brownish yellow ( Figs. 6A , 7D ). China................................................................................... O. aobing sp. n.

- First metasomal tergite black; metasoma from reddish-brown to brown. Head entirely black; antenna either entirely black or reddish-yellow....................................................................................... 4

4. Flagellum with 12 flagellomeres, seven basal flagellomeres combined 1.25× longer than eye. Minimal width of face 0.6× as wide as maximal width of frons. Fore trochanter yellow or reddish. Malar space 0.45–0.50× as long as width of mandibular base. Iran, Georgia.................................................................... O. mukriyana Riedel

- Flagellum with 10–11 flagellomeres, seven basal flagellomeres combined 0.93× longer than eye. Minimal width of face 0.4× as wide as maximal width of frons. Fore trochanter black with yellow apex. Malar space 0.25× as long as width of mandibular base. Kyrgyzstan................................................................. O. dodecameron Kasparyan

Figures

FIGURE 6. Orthopelma aobing. A) Lateral habitus. B) Dorsal habitus.

FIGURE 7. Orthopelma aobing. A) Head in frontal view. B) Head in dorsal view. C) Petiole in lateral view. D) Female antenna. E) Male antenna. F) Head + mesosoma in lateral view.

FIGURE 8. Orthopelma aobing. A) Mesosoma in frontal view. B) Fore wing. C) Metasoma in lateral view. D) Metasoma in dorsal view. E) Propodeum + petiole in dorsal view. F) Lateral habitus of male.